Unravel Me
by xB2UTY
Summary: Whatever Viktor had expected of the Boy Who Lived, it definitely wasn't the shy boy Harry Potter lived up to be. As the tournament goes on Viktor begins to find his fellow champion more and more intriguing. Slash Viktor/Harry.
1. Prologue

Unravel Me

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the Harry Potter series (other than all the books and a couple of movies).

Summary: Whatever Viktor had expected of the Boy Who Lived, it definitely wasn't the shy boy Harry Potter lived up to be. As the tournament goes on Viktor begins to find his fellow champion more and more intriguing.

Warnings: Slash, underage, and possibly more later on.

Pairing: Viktor/Harry

Dammit! Peoples need to post up more Viktor/Harry fics! Why? Because after reading one I became addicted and find that there aren't enough! So, I had to write my own. Of course, I don't believe it'll be as good as the one I read, but I still want to try. Anyways, at the end tell me what you think. Be warned that this chapter is terribly short. Enjoy~!

Prologue

Last night had been the first time Viktor had seen Harry Potter in person, excluding the glimpses he had caught of the boy earlier that day and the day before, and when Potter had attended the Quidditch World Cup that summer. In Viktor's mind, those instances didn't truly count for they were merely that, instances. But last night, after the unveiling of the champions, he had a chance to see the Boy Who Lived up close. Potter was small, small for a fourteen year-old even, scrawny and seemed much too thin. He had an unruly mop of black hair atop his head, in which the bangs effectively covered up the famous scar on his forehead. But, the most impressive of all about the boy, was his eyes; a bright green color, matching those of emeralds perhaps.

In those expressive green eyes, Viktor could see Potter's astonishment and also deep within those swirling pools of viridian was also a lingering fear. As if sensing Viktor's eyes on him, Potter had looked up. At that moment, the wall which concealed the boy's feelings crumbled a bit more and a haunted expression swept over his face. Potter seemed startled when the French girl from Beauxbatons—Fleur Delacour, if he remembered correctly—started speaking to him, asking him if he was a messenger. The boy's mouth parted slightly before shutting again, looking as if he had just swallowed his own tongue.

Then the enraged professors had stormed in, along with the tournament's other judges. Bagman congratulated them all and looked to be fairly excited about the fourth champion, though Viktor couldn't fathom why. Potter was a mere child compared to them; they had at least three years on him and were considered adults already who could make their own decisions. He watched on as Karkaroff and Madam Maxime argued with Hogwart's Headmaster about a matter he truly couldn't change, outraged that Hogwarts had _two _champions. Potter had shrunk back from them, watching as he was as they tried to get Dumbledore to let them resubmit student's names.

Dumbledore asked Potter quietly if he had submitted his name into the goblet or had an older student do it for him, and the boy had immediately denied both claims. A few in the room then exclaimed that the boy was lying, saying that he had done it to garner more fame. Viktor perhaps would've believed this, hadn't it been for the terror he had seen in the boy's eyes earlier; no triumphant glow, no pompous smirk had adorned Potter's face when he entered that door. All he had shown was bewildered astonishment and a fear of what lie ahead. If the look on Potter's face wasn't enough of a confirmation of his innocence then the slight tremble he gave at the harsh accusations was.

Due the magically binding contract that was enacted the second someone's name shot forth from the goblet, it was decided that Potter would participate in the tournament despite his age and inexperience. Although no where near accepting this final decision, they knew it was a matter that they could not contend with and went their separate ways. Dumbledore advised that Potter and Diggory go up to their dorms where celebrations surely awaited them, while he and Fleur were led away by their own respective headmaster and headmistress. Potter walked out with Diggory, looking just as bewildered as he had been when he first stepped into the room.

Viktor couldn't help but watch as the Boy Who Lived stalked away in daze down the hallway, before Karkaroff called for him to hurry up and get back to the ship. Surely, this boy wasn't the Harry Potter he had heard about before, who had defeated the Dark Lord at the age of one and escaped with only a scar on his forehead. He had been expecting some arrogant prat who thought himself above everybody else just because of his fame. Not someone who vaguely reminded him of himself when he was in the spotlight, of course though Viktor was much better at hiding his emotions than Potter who wore them like an open book. But then again, the boy just could've been scared because he had gotten caught. Besides, Potter had barely uttered anything when they had been in the room other than proclaiming his innocence.

Viktor shook the thoughts of the Boy Who Lived from his mind. He should be concentrating, he needed to focus. The First Task was on the 24th which meant he had barely a month to train for what was to come. Pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind, he began paying attention to his lesson meanwhile mentally setting up a training schedule for himself. He could worry about the Potter matter later, for now though he would concentrate on figuring out a way to beat the other champions.

* * *

Yea, told you it was short. Sorry 'bout that its just that, this fic has been bothering me for two days and I had to get something down before I went crazy. Nothing much happens here, other then a recap of what happened in the book, slightly altered and from Viktor's point of view with no dialogue. I promise, the next chapter will be much longer and more worthwhile. Anyways, if you enjoyed this please review!


	2. Chapter 1

Unravel Me

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling. I am just a fan.

Warnings: slash, underage (don't worry though, no sex will occur any time soon, this story shall slowly progress to that as Harry goes through his remaining years at Hogwarts), this may or may not disregard both HBP and DH, and I just realized that this will be a very long fic with irregular updates (if that upsets you, I'm sorry, but I cannot help my laziness). If any of these warnings bother you, you are free to press the back button and read a different fic that is more to your liking. Thank you!

Pairing: Viktor/Harry

As I get annoyed with writing these things, this will be the last time I put the disclaimer, warnings, and pairing in a chapter (unless I have something to add like the rating changing for instance), so if you have a problem with the aforementioned things and complain about it later, I will kindly guide you back to this page and promptly tell you to shove it up your ass.

If I seem a little rude above, I'm sorry; I just tend to get a bit sarcastic and antsy when I'm sleep deprived. Anyways, I'd like to thank all of you who reviewed/alerted/favorited, I honestly wasn't expecting such a response for the depressingly short chapter.

Chapter One

Viktor let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding in as Harry Potter and his bushy-haired friend left the library. He looked back to the open book in front of him; luckily, it seemed no one had noticed that he had been staring at the same page for quite some time now. He honestly couldn't tell you what he had been reading about if you asked him, because as soon as Harry Potter had walked in, the Bulgarian's mind had wandered elsewhere. Viktor had noticed as the days passed by and the day of the First Task grew ever nearer, that the Boy Who Lived was becoming more and more withdrawn from everyone.

Potter was now mostly ever seen with the bushy-haired girl—whom he had learned was Hermione Granger from Rita Skeeter's terrible article—and hardly with anyone else. Even that boisterous red-head of whom Potter had been talking animatedly with before the unveiling, was no longer talking to the Boy Who Lived. The whole of Hogwarts population, excluding a select few, seemed to turn on Potter; shamelessly wearing badges which praised one of their champions while at the same time putting down the other, taunting the poor boy in the hallway, all to the point to where Potter felt the need to hide from people he had known for four years.

It was disgusting really, how fickle these people could be. They went from worshiping the ground Potter walked on, to treating him as if he were the dirt beneath their shoes. Though, Viktor guessed it truly wasn't any of his business of how these English people treated each other, it wasn't his problem, he was merely a bystander, unable to do anything but watch and thank the gods that it wasn't him in that place. Even if he did want to help, he didn't know Potter, this was proven by the fact that all his perceptions of the boy before had been crushed down into miniscule particles until they were nothing but dust in the wind.

Closing the book he had been reading, Viktor put it back, ignoring the horde of fangirls watching his every move. He honestly couldn't blame the Granger girl for glaring at him every time he came into the library, what with all the girls who decided to follow him in and gaggle at him, he'd be angry too. Truthfully, the books he had on the ship were of a much wider selection and would probably be a much greater help than the ones that Hogwarts could provide, but for some reason he liked being in Hogwarts' library. And _no_, he most certainly was _not _stalking Harry Potter, as one of his friends had so kindly put it. Harry Potter merely _interested _him and since Potter was a fellow champion, it was only natural of him to watch for potential weaknesses.

Besides, who was to say he was looking at Potter at all? For all they knew, he was watching the Granger girl. She was pretty enough and didn't swoon whenever he was near. From the looks of it, she was pretty intuitive as well. So not only was she smart, but she had enough gull to be snappy at him and grow irate at his mere presence. Much unlike the other girls of Hogwarts who followed him around like lost puppies, if he weren't such a gentleman, he probably would've hexed them ten times over by now. Yes, Granger was definitely different from the rest of the girls' population of Hogwarts, which was probably why Potter associated himself with her.

He didn't know why he should care about any of this at all though. As he constantly reminded himself, it wasn't any of his business. What he really needed to do was think about how to get past the dragon he would face in two days. All the other champions, from what he had seen, were each researching vigorously; Delacour hardly left that elaborate carriage of Beauxbatons' anymore, except for meals and even then she was reading some obscure French textbook; Diggory had worked himself into a panic recently, before regaining his cool, and coming to the library seeming to grab every book that he could carry and checking them out; and Potter, well, Potter had Granger who raided the library for him and kept the youngest champion on his toes. All in all, it was very amusing to watch for the Bulgarian who had somehow managed to retain his composure after Karkaroff had told him of the dragons they would go against in the First Task.

This didn't mean he hadn't been studiously working on a tactic for the first task as well, no; he just merely had better acting skills. Inside, he was just as about as nervous as the other champions seemed to be. He had already come up with a plan to get past the dragon; he was going to use an advanced version of a stunner spell that would, hopefully, knock the dragon out. It was a bit risky considering how many stunners dragon tamers had to cast to get a dragon down, but he hoped it worked, or at least momentarily disable the creature from doing anything.

…

The day of the First Task had dawned bright and early. Viktor and the other champions were assembled together in a tent, where they would await their turn. Potter was the last to show up, once again looking just as sick and nauseated as he had at the unveiling. Diggory was pacing and Delacour was brooding, while Viktor was determinedly staring down at the ground.

Bagman greeted Potter jovially, as if all the champions didn't have a high possibility that they might die within the next hour or so. The jolly man then began explaining about their task, asking them to gather around him so that they could pick the dragon they would face from the pouch Bagman held.

"Ladies first," he said excitedly, gesturing for Fleur to go.

With her hand shaking, Fleur reached in and pulled out a miniature version of the dragon she would be facing—a Welsh Green. She showed no sign of surprise and determination hardened her features. The number tied around the creature's neck indicated that she would be going second. Viktor went next and pulled a Chinese Fireball with a three tied around its neck. All he could do to keep his emotions in check was to sit back down and stare at the floor. He didn't see what the other two champions got, nor did he truly care, his attention was solely focused on getting past the scarlet Chinese Fireball.

Bagman announced that Diggory would go first, and after that he took Potter outside for a chat. Viktor looked up briefly as Diggory left, the Hufflepuff's face looking even greener than it had when he walked in. Potter came back in just as Diggory left, and Viktor went back to staring at the ground. Delacour took up Diggory's pacing as Bagman's commentary and cheers from the crowd could be heard. Delacour disappeared from the tent a while later, after Diggory had gotten his egg, and soon it was Viktor's turn.

His plan didn't work out so well. He had retrieved the golden egg, but had gotten the other real eggs destroyed. The mother dragon had roared in outrage and the dragon tamers had quickly run in to subdue her. Points were no doubt going to be deducted, of course, Karkaroff being the cheating bastard he was gave him ten points. Viktor was just glad it was over and went to sit in the stands with the rest of his schoolmates.

Viktor was shocked to see a Hungarian Horntail being led out; surely they weren't going to give the most dangerous of the dragons they had brought here to the youngest champion. But, it seemed, they were. Harry Potter walked out then, his legs trembling as he went forward, his wand tightly clenched in his fist, and even from where he was sitting, Viktor could see the fear in the young boy's face.

Potter stared at the Horntail for a moment, before raising his wand. "_Accio Firebolt!_" He shouted. Seconds passed by with nothing, but it felt like hours. Potter looked about frantically and everyone seemed to be holding their breath. Finally, they heard it. The Firebolt sped through the air straight for Potter. As soon as it reached him, it stopped and hovered there, waiting for Potter to get on.

Getting on, Potter kicked off from the ground and soared into the sky. When he came back down the previous traces of fear were wiped clear from his face and determination shown clear in his eyes. He took a dive and started flying gracefully around the dragon, carefully avoiding the flames that spewed from its mouth.

"Great Scott, he can fly!" Bagman announced enthusiastically to the cheering crowd. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"

And he most certainly was.

Harry Potter was a born flier which was shown by the fluid movements he made in the sky. It was almost beautiful the way the boy flew. Viktor winced as the Horntail's tail caught on Potter's shoulder, but the Boy Who Lived paid it no mind. Potter continued flying around the beast, obviously looking for an opening. And then it came. As the great dragon spread it's wings, prepared to go after the boy, Potter swooped down. Soaring towards the egg he reached out his arm. Almost there—

And he got it! He flew over the stands with the egg tucked safely under his arm.

"Look at that!" Bagman yelled. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"

Viktor almost felt like cheering on with the rest of the cloud, if only for Potter's exceptional flying skills. But, he managed to retain his stoic expression and clapped politely. Viktor smirked as the results were revealed; he and Potter were tied for first. Things were definitely starting to heat up and Potter was turning out to be a worthy opponent.

* * *

Yep, yep, yep! This will probably pretty much follow canon until the Yule Ball and then, well, we'll just have to see. This was written from what happened in the book and all the dialogue is from the book as well. Personally, I like the first task scene from the movie better, but I wanted to be more concentrated on Viktor seeing Harry flying than Harry taking the dragon all the way back to Hogwarts. Anyways, if you enjoyed this chapter, please review!


	3. Chapter 2

Unravel Me

Damn, it's been almost a year since I updated this story and I'm still surprised when it gets reviews. I don't have an excuse for my absence other than I haven't been able to garner any real inspiration for any of my stories (in fact, I still can't) and real life is demanding my attention. The drive for writing my stories has really gone down and I find that if I force myself to write, the stories will come out like crap and I don't want that as then I'd be prone to starting the whole story over.

Um, anyways, there was one flamer I'd like to address, but I honestly can't remember their name because it was a year ago and I deleted the review. All I can say is: Did you even _read_ the fourth book? Or did you just bang your head with it? For your information, in case the fact that they are in the same year didn't give you clue enough, Hermione and Harry are the _same _age, fancy that. If Viktor is a pedophile in this story then he's also one in canon as he dated Hermione. If you were looking to hurt my feelings, might I suggest coming up with a better flame or maybe thinking before you speak? KTHXBAI

Chapter Two

Viktor sighed as he strolled out of Hogwarts and headed back towards the ship. Yuletide was fast approaching and while this would usually be a joyous occasion, this year it was anything but. It was mandatory for the champions to attend the Yule Ball that would be held and not only that but they had to bring a date as well. When he had been informed of this, the Bulgarian had been worried he might have to take one of the girls who followed him around the school and that would've been frightening, luckily for him, it seemed it wouldn't come to that.

While scourging the library for books that might help him with the Second Task, which he had discovered would be held under water in the lake, he and Hermione Granger had tried grabbing for the same book. Granger had refused to let go and, well, Viktor was very stubborn when he wanted to be. After that, they had headed to one of the tables and began discussing the high level Transfiguration book neither seemed willing to give up, and had somehow formed a tentative friendship. Hermione enjoyed having an intelligent conversation with someone while Viktor enjoyed talking to a girl who wasn't swooning over him the whole time, it was a win-win situation.

After a while, Viktor had decided to ask her to the Yule Ball and was happy when she agreed, but they would only be going as friends because she confessed to already liking someone else. She was certainly a much better choice over the other girls who only cared for his fame and Viktor was glad he had gotten that out of the way. Now all he had to worry about was the Second Task which was in February.

He had already figured out the clue in the egg and was now only worried on how he was going to come up with a way to breathe under water for a long period of time. He was thinking along the lines of something involving Transfiguration as it was one of his strong points, however, the only problem was figuring out how to safely do so. He would have to practice rigorously until the next task and make sure it was all perfected as one wrong thing could lead to him drowning in the lake and he definitely didn't want that.

"OW!"

Viktor was startled out of his reverie as he heard the yelp, immediately looking around for the source of the noise. He was surprised to say the least when he looked down and saw Harry Potter lying on the ground in front of him. However, Viktor was more worried by the fact he could only see Potter's head and torso, the rest of the boy seemed to be missing. Potter sat up and Viktor watched as translucent material gave way to Potter's shoulders and arms. The fabric pooled at the younger's waist, becoming visible once more.

Still more than a bit shocked, Viktor offered the smaller boy his hand. Potter stared at the hand as if it were on fire, before gently slipping his own hand in the much larger one. Viktor easily hoisted the boy to his feet, surprised at how little Potter weighed.

"I am sorry for knocking you down." Viktor murmured, his voice thick with his accent.

Potter shook his head. "It was my fault, I probably shouldn't be running around like that with this on." He gestured to the cloak that was now tucked under his arm, while smiling sheepishly.

"That is a very nice cloak you have, vere did you get it?" Viktor inquired. Invisibility cloaks were hard to come by and very expensive, having one would probably make his life a lot easier in regards to safely escaping his fans.

"It was my dad's." A far away look passed over Potter's face as he said this and Viktor couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for the other boy. Potter shook his head, before smiling back up at him. "So, what are you doing out here? You running away from the commotion in the castle as well?"

"I vas heading back to the ship to get some peace and quiet. The girls of your school are very, uh, annoying." Viktor stated. He didn't want to be mean, but, it was true. Even after telling them he had a date, they still persisted in trying to become his girlfriend. At least he had the comfort in knowing they couldn't come aboard the ship unless someone invited them on.

"Well, at least they talk to you. They just stare and giggle at me. I don't think I'll have any luck getting one of them alone out of their group to ask them to the ball and even if I do, I don't think I'll be able to stand her friends giggling at me." Harry sighed dramatically, running a hand through his hair.

Viktor chuckled. As they began conversing, Viktor realized he hadn't really spoken to the other boy before. There had been no reason to speak to the other champion who he was essentially trying to beat. Potter was intriguing to say the least and Viktor found himself wanting to find out more about the strange boy who had all but destroyed all of his expectations. He wanted to know more about the boy himself, rather than what was written in articles and textbooks, to unravel the mystery that was Harry Potter.

After a while, they parted ways. Potter headed back to the castle while Viktor left for the ship. Viktor was rewarded with a slew of information from his conversation with Potter. Potter had confided that he was on the Quidditch team for his House and played the Seeker position much like himself, which would explain the boy's fluid moves in the First Task and how he was able to fly so well. The boy's best friends were Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. While Viktor had known about Hermione, he wasn't sure why Potter would still be friends with Weasley. Upon voicing this, Potter confessed to not being able to fully forgive Ron for what he did either, but had decided to give the red head a second chance since Ron was his first friend.

Viktor didn't push any further on the subject. Had it been him in the same situation, he wouldn't be as forgiving as Harry was, but he surmised that was one of the good qualities about Potter that he could forgive something like that. Viktor, however, was a bit worried that quality might hurt the shy boy in the long run.

Plopping to his bed, Viktor pushed the thoughts about Potter away and instead let his mind wander to the Second Task which would soon be approaching. He was not excited in the least about the daunting task and was worried as to what precious thing would be taken from him. Tomorrow, he would began practicing his method for the task, but for now, he was going to take however relaxation he could get at the moment.

* * *

Oh my god, I was so excited when I found this chapter! I had totally forgotten I had written it and it had been stored away in my thumb-drive, USB-thingy... (-_-;;) _Anyways_, I was sure I had wanted to add more to the chapter (which is why I hadn't posted it before), but for the life of me, I can't remember what I wanted to write. I decided that after making you guys wait so long, I might as well post it. Sorry, for it's shortness; I had a hard time writing this chapter as in this part of the book, you don't really hear anything about Viktor, so I was unsure as to what I should have him do.

I'm going to try to get this updated again before Christmas, but I make no promises. It would definitely be awesome to get the Yule Ball chapter up before then and I am totally excited to finally get this show on the road! Anyways, if you enjoyed this chapter, please review! = ¬ = ciao~


	4. Chapter 3

Unravel Me

Yay~! I got it updated before Christmas like I wanted to! I want to say thank you to all of my reviewers and the people who alerted/favorited this, this chapter is for you guys. Enjoy~

Chapter Three

The day of the Yule Ball dawned bright and early for Viktor. Usually, by this time in the year, Viktor would be waking up in his room, ready to spend a pleasant winter holiday with his family. However, since the people who were running the Triwizard Tournament decided that the champions just absolutely _had _to attend their Yule Ball, he would not be with his family like he wanted to this year. This, of course, made Viktor very sour that morning and his classmates did good to avoid him.

As usual, Viktor grumpily made the trek from the ship to Hogwarts, put in an even worser mood by the fact that he had to plough through the snow that had accumulated on the ground within the past few days. All this when he could be in his warm manor at this moment and not have worry himself over the cold, unforgiving weather outside. A sigh escaped past his lips as he and his friends finally got inside Hogwarts, instantly engulfed in the pleasant warmth that radiated from within the castle.

They quickly made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast, taking their usual seats at the Slytherin table. Viktor spent most of the day in what solitude he could garner, preferring to stay on the ship, rather than deal with the pandemonium inside Hogwarts. He had somehow managed to enjoy a majority of the day, after his sourness from having woken up in the ship had worn off.

That mood was, unfortunately, torn once one of his friends, Dimitri, came in to remind him that he had a ball to get to in two hours time. Grudgingly, Viktor drew himself out of his bed, where he had been reading, and adorned his dress robes for the night. Soon, he and the rest of the Durmstrang students were being led off of the ship and to Hogwarts by Karkaroff.

Waiting outside the ship was Hermione, who was dressed in beautiful blue dress robes. Viktor's mood lightened a bit at seeing the fourth year and he offered her a smile, which in turn made her blush. Gone was her normally, somewhat, chaotic-looking hair. Instead, he hair was sleek and shiny, tied into an elegant bun at the back of her head.

"You look beautiful," he said in a way of greeting as he offered her his arm.

She graciously looped her arm with his. "You don't look so bad yourself, Viktor." A small smile curled at her lips.

The group of Durmstrang students continued on their way to the castle, with Viktor and Hermione leading. The ancient castle had seemingly transformed over the course of one day. The snow had, thankfully, been cleared away; rose bushes filled with faerie lights had been conjured; and a large statute of Father Christmas with his reindeer stood tall, with faeries fluttering around it. Viktor pulled his gaze away from the visage as the doors to the castle opened.

Hermione teetered nervously beside him as they walked in, but smiled nonetheless. The stern witch, whose name he learned to be Professor McGonagall, then called the champions forward. The crowd parted as they walked to the front. It was then that the Hogwarts students seemed to realize who his date was. Most gawped unattractively, while some, like the members of his little fan club, sent scathing glares at Hermione. Hermione seemed to just wipe it off as if it was nothing and instead turned her attention to Harry Potter and his date who were now standing in front of them.

"Hi, Harry! Hi, Parvarti!" She greeted.

It wasn't long until the champions and their dates were lined up to enter the Great Hall. The Great Hall, like the outside of the castle, had been transformed as well. Christmas decorations lined the walls and crossed the ceiling. The long house tables had been replaced with a hundred or so smaller ones.

After gliding easily through the first dance, Viktor and Hermione made their way to one of the tables to eat. Once they got their food, the two chatted amicably for a while. He was telling her about Durmstrang and about how it was a castle as well, before Karkaroff interrupted him, claiming he was giving too much away and that Hermione would somehow figure out where the school was. Viktor doubted that, but changed the subject anyway.

…

Once the music had started, he and Hermione had decided to separate. Hermione finally garnered enough courage to ask the person she really wanted to dance with her. It hadn't started out prettily, but Hermione, determined as ever, had shut the brash red-head up by kissing him. And the rest, as they say, was history.

Viktor had decided, not too soon after the first couple of girls came over asking him to dance, that he had had enough of the Yule Ball and walked outside to head back to the ship. They had only said that he had needed to be there for the first dance, not that he needed to stay for the whole ball.

As he strolled through the conjured rosebushes, and the fluttering faeries, he heard someone grumbling. Searching around a bit, he came upon a disgruntled Harry Potter, trying to fight off faeries that were putting roses in his hair. The sight was absolutely hilarious and one Viktor would have never expected to see, and he began to chuckle uncontrollably.

Potter's green eyes turned up to him, the boy's cheeks coloring darkly in the pale moonlight. "S'not funny," Potter mumbled, pouting.

Calming down, Viktor swat the pesky faeries away. "Vhat are you doing out here, vouldn't you rather be inside?"

Potter rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, my date left me, not that I really blame her, and Ron went off with Hermione. I didn't really want to humiliate myself any further by sitting alone." He murmured, his blush darkening even more so. "What about you? What are you doing out here?"

"I vas heading back to the ship. I didn't see much point in staying in there any longer either." Viktor replied. Something stirred within Viktor as he took in Potter's flushed face with wide green eyes and messy black hair with roses weaved into their locks. He couldn't quite place the strange, tingly feeling, but he felt oddly compelled to learn even more about Harry and become closer to the fellow champion. "How vould you like to join me? You could come onto the ship if you like."

"Really?" Harry asked, surprised. Viktor nodded.

Once again, Viktor felt an odd fluttering in his stomach when Harry beamed at him. Viktor felt as if he might've swallowed one of those faeries considering how weird the feeling was and how warm he was feeling at the moment despite how cold it was.

Not too long after, Viktor was allowing Harry onto the ship. Harry gazed around, wide-eyed. "Wicked." He murmured. "I've never been on a ship before." Harry admitted, turning to look at Viktor.

"You haven't?"

"No," the other boy was suddenly looking away and gazing out across the lake. The mood seemed to decline, before Harry once again turned to him and was back to smiling. Viktor gave Harry a tour of the ship, feeling all along that there was something bothering the other boy. But, despite what he thought, he didn't press Harry to tell him anything. It certainly wasn't any of his business. If Harry wanted to tell him, he would tell him.

Viktor was pleased to find how easy it was to talk to the other boy and be around him. It delighted him to see that Harry seemed to like to be around him too. And when the time came for Harry to get back to the castle, Viktor was almost sad to let him go.

As he walked Harry back to Hogwarts, Viktor pondered over the strange feelings that clouded his mind whenever Harry was near. At first, it had been merely because Harry had completely shattered his expectations of him that he wanted to learn more about the boy. But, as more of the true Harry Potter was revealed to him, the more he wanted to be near him.

"Thanks for taking me onto the ship, Viktor." Harry said as they reached the doors. "Though, you didn't have to walk me back up here."

"Oh, but is it not my job to make sure younger years make it back safely?" Viktor inquired, smirking.

Harry rolled his eyes, still smiling. "Ha, bloody, ha. Goodnight, git."

"Aren't you forgetting something, Harry?" Viktor asked smugly. Harry turned back to face him, arching an eyebrow. Viktor tapped himself on the head, giving Harry a pointed look. First, Harry's face became confused, before he blushed darkly. Tearing the roses out from his hair, he huffed, throwing them to the ground and stalking into Hogwarts.

Viktor happily made his way back to the ship, his mood much lighter than it had been at the beginning of the day. He was even happier when he remembered he would be going home tomorrow by portkey to celebrate a proper Yule with his family. All in all, he decided that maybe, this Christmas hadn't been so bad after all.

* * *

Me thinks its going to fast, but I don't really care. I like where it is and its staying that way. Also, sorry about the whole flowers in the hair thing, my Harry's always turn out so girly; too many of those creature dom/sub fics me thinks, they has muddled my brain. I was going to have a swarm of faeries attack Viktor and put like one of those flower crown-thingys on his head, but I got sidetracked and it came out like this instead. And yes, I realize my meddling has caused the complete disregard of a crucial scene in the book. Fret not dear readers, Harry will still get the information about the egg, Cedric will just tell him the day after Yule.

If you enjoyed this chapter please review!


	5. Chapter 4

Unravel Me

Hey guys! Sorry about not updating for a while, after winter vacation us seniors were bombarded with huge ass packets and essays; I'm amazed that I got them all done with my usual procrastination. However, it all worked out for the best and now I have finally graduated high school ^^

Enjoy~!

…

A groan escaped Viktor's lips as he was rudely awakened from the pounding at his door. He barely had any time to gather what was going on and sit up before Dimitri barged into his room, looking as if he had run a mile. "_What the hell—"_

Any mean remarks Viktor would've made at his friend were cut off when Dimitri threw a paper at him that landed in his lap. Viktor glanced down skeptically at the offending object that apparently was the reason for his friend's distress. Being no stranger to the media badmouthing him or spreading stupid rumors about his exploits, Viktor gingerly picked up the newspaper and unfolded it.

What he certainly wasn't expecting was the large picture of Harry Potter plastered to the front, with roses weaved into his hair and a smile on his face. Standing next to the boy was of course none other than himself, grinning with eyes only for his companion. Viktor's stomach plummeted as he watched the picture-Harry laugh. His gaze switched up the headline and he felt even more dread.

_**Boy-Who-Lived Caught With Viktor Krum**_

The door to Viktor's room slammed open once again as an angry Karkaroff stormed in. He too was wielding a copy of The Daily Prophet.

"_What is the meaning of this, Krum? Fraternizing with our competition? Allowing him aboard the ship? Are you mad?" _Karkaroff yelled. "_And not only that, but now this scandalous affair, with another boy no less, has come out into the press! Do you know what damage this could cause to our school's reputation? All for some useless whelp!" _

Growling, Viktor grasped the front of Karkaroff's robes and slammed the man against the wall. "_Don't you ever speak of Harry that way! He is my friend and I will not tolerate you badmouthing him like that to me!" _He growled. An overwhelming protectiveness of Harry had risen in him when he had seen the picture on the front of the newspaper. Viktor, being a star Seeker and the son of a politician, was no stranger to the cruel ways of the media_. _But Harry...Harry was innocent. Harry wasn't like him; Harry was sweet and shy, and didn't deserve any of this.

"_Krum, I advise you to stay away from that boy. He will only lead to your sabotage in this competition." _With that, Karkaroff removed himself from the room, sending one last sour glance at Viktor. Viktor smirked, knowing full well that Karkaroff couldn't go against him. That would be going against the whole Krum family and only an idiot would do that nowadays.

Viktor shook his head, his thoughts straying back to Harry. In just a couple hours, Viktor would be heading back to Bulgaria to stay the rest of the holidays with his family. Harry would be left to face the backlash of this article alone. Viktor couldn't even fathom doing something like that to Harry. He might not have known Harry that long personally, but even so he couldn't help but feel protective over the other boy.

Dammit, how could he have been so careless? Viktor should've _known _something like this was going to happen. The media was relentless and dammit, he should've prepared for the inevitable. And now, now Harry had been roped into this scandal with him.

If this had been in Bulgaria, or any other country that was embracing change and growing along with Muggle society, news like this wouldn't have mattered except to a couple of very strict and very old pureblood families. However, in a place like this, Viktor knew something like this could be very devastating to a person's reputation and how they are viewed.

For some reason, England was having a hard time letting go of its old ways and hadn't grown much at all over the last couple of centuries. Due to this things such as homosexuality still weren't accepted. Viktor could only imagine the backlash this would cause.

…

The trek to Hogwarts had been cold and unforgiving, much like how Viktor felt at the moment. Reading the terrible dribble that woman had written had had his blood boiling. How dare she say such things about Harry? He knew it was going to be bad, but he still wasn't prepared for the anger that had overcome him at it.

As he and Dimitri reached the doors to the Great Hall the doors came open. It just so happened that the person coming through the door was exactly who he was looking for. Though, a part of him wished it hadn't been.

The hurt that shone in Harry's green eyes pierced him, bringing him back to the night of the unveiling and just like what happened that night, Harry's mask seemed to crumble. A gasp escaped Harry's lips as he spotted them and the boy quickly ran away.

"_Go inside without me._" Without waiting for a response from his friend, Viktor ran after the distraught Boy Who Lived. He cursed inwardly; not only was Harry fast on his broom but the boy was fast on his feet as well. "Wait! Harry!" Viktor yelled. "Harry, please! I need to talk to you."

Luckily, Harry seemed to slow down at that. Harry glanced over his shoulder at him, looking stricken. Finally, Harry stopped running and Viktor was able to catch up to him.

"Harry," Viktor breathed. "Why did you run from me?" He asked, trying to ignore the wince Harry gave when he put his hands on the other boy's shoulders.

"I-I was scared that you were angry with me." Harry admitted quietly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry for getting you into this."

"What? This isn't your fault, Harry. If anything this situation is my fault. I should've expected something like this from nosy reporters." Viktor snarled. "I'm not angry with you, Harry, you did nothing wrong. I'm angry with myself for not protecting you better."

"Really?" Harry asked, surprised.

Viktor nodded. "I'm not going to let that woman get away with this, Harry."

A smile lit up Harry's face then and Viktor could feel one tugging at his own lips. Viktor stared into Harry's eyes, believing perhaps that he could get lost in them.

"HARRY!" Viktor was shaken out of his stupor as the loud voice broke through his thoughts. He quickly shook such thoughts away, wondering where on earth they had come from, and turned around. Hermione was running towards them. She quickly drew Harry into her arms and hugged him tightly. "Thank goodness, I was hoping you hadn't gotten too far." She pulled away. "Are you alright?"

Harry nodded solemnly.

"URGH! Those stupid, bigoted, idiots I just want to wring their slimy necks!" She ranted. Her hands were balled into fists, her fingernails digging into the flesh of her palms. It was then she seemed to notice Viktor standing there as well, staring at her in amusement. She flushed a bit in embarrassment, but honestly she couldn't be arsed to really give a damn at that moment.

"It is nice to know Harry has such a good friend in you." Viktor stated before looking back to Harry. "Do not worry, my family will make sure that woman pays for what she has done."

The Bulgarian Seeker's heart seemed to flutter at the absolutely positive beam Harry gave him in return. Harry's smile was breathtaking and Viktor yearned to see more of that beautiful smile.

* * *

Oooh, Viktor's close to figuring out what he feels for Harry~ though, he might need a bit more of a push in the right direction. I'm so excited! As you can see, I got a bit lazy. This chapter has been circling around in my head for so long, but I just can't seem to get it out into words like I want. Also, I had trouble writing that article so I decided to omit it, mostly because I can't seem to find Rita's voice and put her into it, if that makes any sense ^^; I'll see if I can fit it in later.

Happy Independence Day! And Happy Canada Day even though I'm late for both. Well, technically, its still the 4th in Hawaii. So, enjoy the rest of your July 4th, Hawaii.

If you enjoyed this chapter, please review!


	6. Chapter 5

Unravel Me

Sup guys, sorry for the incredibly slow updates. Thank you all for your encouraging reviews and for alerting/favoriting this story, you guys rock. Also, thank you to the reviewers that pointed out that Hermione is actually a year older than Harry; I feel like the world's biggest asshole now, but my original argument still stands. My little sister is 15 and I would permanently maim any boy that tried to do anything with her ^_^

Enjoy!

Chapter Five

Viktor was surprised to find that it was not at all hard for him to make the decision to stay at Hogwarts rather than going home as he had planned. How could it be when his new friend so obviously needed him here? Harry had protested, saying he would be fine and that Viktor should go home to his family. But, Viktor had just shook his head at the younger boy, stating firmly that he would take responsibility for the mess he was partially to blame for.

He then had promptly penned a letter to his parents to inform them of the situation and sent it off with his owl. Chances were his parents already knew of the slanderous newspaper that had come out that morning and were already concocting a plan on how to confront it. If not, they would definitely start after receiving his letter.

Until then, there was little he and Harry could do while at Hogwarts except speak to the headmaster and demand a reason as to why a reporter had been at the Yule Ball anyways. If he remembered correctly, that horrendous woman had been banned from the grounds. How had she gained access? And why did it seem that they were doing nothing whatsoever to protect their precious Boy Who Lived?

This wasn't the first time that year that The Daily Prophet had ragged on Harry and humiliated the poor boy. Why was nothing more being done if they loved Harry as much as they proclaimed they did? So far it seemed Harry had received nothing more than a pat on the back for his troubles before being waved off.

Not for the first time, Viktor felt disgust at their treatment of Harry and how they just didn't seem to care. He was even more disgusted of them when Harry acted as if it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. What had they done to make this child believe that he should expect no help from the adults who were supposed to help him and protect him?

Viktor shook his head, turning to Harry who was sitting across from him. While Harry claimed stubbornly that he could take whatever his ignorant classmates threw at him, Viktor himself knew he would have trouble not cursing the idiotic populace of Hogwarts if he heard one more derogatory comment from one of them. Due to this, Harry had instead led him to the kitchens where over-eager house elves tripped over themselves to feed them.

"Harry, you should eat something." Viktor stated after he noticed that Harry had barely touched his food, and was instead gazing off into nothingness.

"Huh?" Harry blinked, shaking himself out of his thoughts and turning to look at Viktor. "Oh, I'm not hungry..." He replied quietly.

"Did you even eat at breakfast this morning?" Viktor inquired.

"Um..."

"It's not healthy to skip two meals like this. Eat and get your mind off of those ignorant fools."

Harry nodded while blushing in embarrassment and began taking small bites of his food.

"What are you doing for Yule this year?" Viktor asked in an effort to keep Harry's mind from straying back to the article and the idiots that believed it.

"I'm going to stay here like I usually do." Harry replied, shrugging.

"Why do you stay at Hogwarts? Why wouldn't you go home to see your family? Don't you miss them? Surely, with all that's going on they would be worried and want you home right?" Viktor became alarmed as Harry burst out laughing, almost choking on his food in the process. "Are you alright? Did I say something weird?"

"No, no, what you said is fine." Harry chuckled. "Personally, I would prefer Hogwarts over my relatives' home any day. I highly doubt they would care about the goings on here, in fact they'd probably be overly delighted to find out what's being said about me."

Viktor's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "Why would that be?"

Harry sputtered, his cheeks tinging pink as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "W-well, they don't particularly like magic... or anything that has to do with magic really." He admitted, his words growing quieter at the end. Harry didn't need to spell it out for him; Viktor could deduct from Harry's relatives disliking magic also meant in turn that they didn't like Harry. "Err... What about you, Viktor? What are you doing for Yule?" Harry asked.

Viktor's eyes narrowed at the obvious change in topic, but let it slide. Instead, he regaled tales of his family and what they usually did over Yule. He spoke of his mother who took pride in lavishing their home in decorations and of his father who dropped his politician's facade to become the warm, loving man he knew him as. Last he spoke of his little sister who was only in her first year at Durmstrang and the pouting that ensued when she found out she couldn't go to Hogwarts with him. Viktor smiled softly as he spoke, eager to speak about his family that he missed so dearly, especially now that he was in a deadly competition.

When he looked back up, he saw that Harry was listening raptly to his every word and staring at him with wide eyes. His cheeks tinged pink under the attention which was somehow unlike the attention he was usually showered with. Fortunately for his nerves, someone came into the kitchens, affectively pulling Harry's attention away from him.

"See? Harry's fine." Ron stated to Hermione as they both walked over to where Viktor and Harry were sitting.

"I was just worried about him." Hermione huffed. Turning to him and Harry, she smiled. "How are you two holding up?"

"Fine. Viktor's been telling me about his family and what he plans to do over Yule." Harry replied.

"You know, if you didn't want people to think you're gay, you guys probably shouldn't be hanging out together, _alone._" Ron stated as he picked up a sandwich and sat down. Harry blushed hotly at his friend's words and Hermione slapped Ron upside the head. "OW!" Ron yelped before taking in the other two's murderous expressions. "I—I mean, not that it'd be bad if you _were _gay, I'm just saying if you didn't want people to believe that you were."

"Anyways, before Ron manages to shove even more of his foot into his mouth; have either of you figured out what you're going to do?" Hermione asked as she sat down besides Ron.

"I spoke to Dumbledore about it, seeing as it isn't the first time this year that I've been attacked on the Prophet, but he said there was nothing he could do about it." Harry grumbled. "He suggested we just ignore it and let it pass."

Hermione pursed her lips. "Surely there's something he could do. This problem with Rita Skeeter has gone on far long enough."

"Your headmaster does not care." Viktor interjected grumpily.

She turned to him. "Of course he—"

"No. This has happened many times this year, far too many times." Viktor stated. "A headmaster's job is to protect his students. Yet, time and again this... this _woman _has been allowed to write such disgraceful things. Also, your headmaster has done nothing to stop the student's reactions to what this woman has written." He grunted. "It hardly matters now though. My family's lawyers will destroy her _and _her newspaper."

* * *

Sorry for the shortness of this chapter guys, I just really wanted to update at the very least, _something_.Anyways, in the next chapter we'll be meeting Viktor's family and celebrating Yule! Yay! Also gonna be making some bug squashing plans ^^

If you enjoyed this chapter, please review. I will try very hard to get the next chapter out to you quickly. I hope this can tide you over until then. Bye!


	7. Chapter 6

Unravel Me

Hey guys! What's up? Sorry for the delay, I actually moved and I'm still kind of getting situated. These past few months have been very tiring and I just don't really have it in me to write much. Anyways, this chapter is kind of short, yea sorry again, but I think you guys will enjoy it ;) Also, I lied, this chapter won't be celebrating Yule, that deserves its own chapter.

Warning: I do not understand much about suing someone for slander, nor do I know much about lawyers either. I tried to avoid writing much about it until I actually research what I'm writing about. So yea.

Chapter Six

Not long after lunch, Viktor and Harry were summoned to the headmaster's office where Viktor's mother and their solicitor awaited them.

"_Darling," _His mother greeted once she turned around and saw them. Walking towards him, she immediately drew him into a hug. _"How I've missed you." _

"_Mother," _Viktor greeted as he pulled away from her embrace. He watched a bit nervously as his mother's gaze switched to the smaller teen standing beside him. Though, he found his nervousness was unprecedented as she smiled warmly at Harry and also drew him into a hug as well. Viktor chuckled at the wide-eyed look on Harry's face as the teen blushed and sputtered, clearly not expecting to be hugged.

"You must be Harry." His mother stated in english as she pulled away. "I'm Irina, Viktor's mother." She introduced.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Krum." Harry greeted.

"Please, call me Irina. We'll be getting to know each other quite well over the next couple of months while we deal with this fiasco." She said. "I would like to introduce you to Mr. Stone." She gestured to the stoic looking man who stood behind her. Stepping forward, he bowed his head curtly in greeting. "Mr. Stone deals with any international issues that arise in our family. He has graciously agreed to take up your case as well, as a means to further ruin the reputation of that paper as well as that Skeeter woman."

"You really don't have to do anything for me—"

"Mr. Potter, this isn't just for you, it is for others like you who have been slandered about in that disgusting drivel. If you and Viktor were to speak out against her and her paper, imagine the others who might gain the courage or ability to do the same." Mr. Stone explained. "If more and more people stand up against that paper, slowly but surely _The Daily Prophet _will lose its credibility. Which is why it is important that you participate."

After that, the four of them moved to somewhere more private to discuss what needed to be done. Stone gathered statements from both Harry and Viktor, and was able to experience firsthand what the reactions to the article written caused when they ran into some Hogwarts students.

About an hour later, Stone left to go begin building their case at his office which just left the three of them.

"Well, the portkey doesn't leave until 4:30 so that gives us about two more hours." His mother stated to him. "Will you be going home as well, Harry?" She asked, turning to the other boy.

Harry shook his head. "No, I'll be staying here."

"Surely not. Not with everything that's going on." She frowned. Harry seemed to sink further into his seat under her scrutiny. Viktor could see his mother wished to press further, but he shook his head at her. She pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing, before suddenly, she smiled. "Well, how about you come home with us?"

"What?" Harry asked, looking shocked. "No, no, I couldn't do that. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Nonsense, you are my son's friend. Besides, it's yule, you shouldn't spend it here at school and plus, that house is too big for the three of us, it would be nice to have company." She said cheerily. "And I won't take no for an answer." She said, turning stern when she saw him opening his mouth. Harry's mouth closed with a click, a blush staining his cheeks.

Harry smiled softly to himself then. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome. Now go get packed, we leave in two hours." She said waving the boy off. Harry scampered off, no doubt to do just that.

Viktor watched him go, before turning towards his mother. While Viktor hadn't been expecting Harry to come home with him, he had to admit he liked it better than the thought that his friend would be spending his Yule in a castle full of ignorant shitheads. In fact, he rather liked the idea of Harry spending the next two weeks with him and his family.

The little Harry had revealed of his own family had had Viktor seeing red. Harry was so kind and forgiving, it was amazing. Harry was even willing to forgive Hogwarts' Headmaster for his inaction. Viktor just couldn't imagine anyone mistreating someone who was so warm hearted.

"_I hope you don't mind that I invited him, Viktor." _His mother said, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"_Of course not. Rather glad actually." _He replied. Off in his own little world, Viktor missed the knowing smile that curled at his mother's lips.

…

An hour later Viktor was sitting in the library, waiting for Harry to finish speaking with his head of house and the headmaster about his intentions. His mother had wandered off to go rip Karkaroff a new one after having heard how the man had reacted to the paper.

For once, his gaggle of fangirls were nowhere in sight. It was a relief as Viktor didn't think he could handle their giggling and whispers right now. Over the last couple of months, despite aforementioned fangirls, Viktor had grown quite fond of the old library with its towering shelves filled with a thousand years worth of knowledge. The library at Durmstrang couldn't hold a candle to this one's beauty.

"Hello, Viktor."

Shaken out of his stupor, Viktor looked up from the book he had been idly reading to smile in greeting at Hermione who sat in the chair opposite of him. "Hermione."

"Do you like Harry?" She asked.

Viktor sputtered. "W-what?" His cheeks flushed as he stared wide-eyed at the girl. "He's my friend." He stated.

She leaned forward, her gaze scrutinizing. "Yes, yes, but do you like him as more than a friend?" She inquired.

"I-I..." Viktor stuttered, unable to fathom a coherent sentence, least of all in english. Did he like Harry that way? Viktor had never imagined himself as gay, not that he had any problem with being gay, it just never occurred to him that he might be. But, even if he was that didn't mean he liked Harry.

Then again he had done things with Harry that he wouldn't have ever done with Dimitri. Harry was..._special _to him somehow. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he didn't mind the idea of being with Harry. Harry who was at times shy, but still strong-willed and outspoken when those close to him were involved. Harry who was brave and withstood the odds against him. Harry who Viktor could have sat and listened to for hours, just to see him smile, to see him laugh, to see him blush, all of which endeared him to Viktor even more.

The realization hit him like a pile of bricks. Viktor flushed as he came the conclusion that he did indeed like Harry. Glancing back at Hermione, he saw that the girl had come to her own conclusion apparently as she nodded at him and stood up from her seat, a knowing smile on her lips.

"I really do like you Viktor, but just remember that Harry is my best friend and if you hurt him, you're going to wish you had never been born." She threatened, still smiling causing Viktor to gulp. "Anyways, enjoy your Yule Viktor, I'll see you when school starts back up." With that, Hermione strolled away, leaving Viktor with his chaotic thoughts.

Knowing his feelings now didn't make the situation any easier. How would he be able to spend two weeks with Harry now? He wanted to confess to Harry, but what if Harry rejected him? That would mean spending two awkward weeks with each other and Viktor didn't want that. He wanted Harry to be able to enjoy himself and to have fun before they were forced to face the tournament again.

Viktor surmised he could start flirting with Harry and see how the other reacted to his advances. If Harry responded favorably then at the end of the two week period, Viktor could confess. If not, Harry would be none the wiser and they could remain friends while Viktor tried to move on.

Nodding to himself, he rose up and left the library, decision made.

* * *

Woo! Chapter done, Viktor realizes his feelings and Harry's going home with him for Yule, mission accomplished. But wait... could problems for our young protagonists possibly arise? *cue dramatic music* DUNDUNDUN! Yes, yes, they could. If you enjoyed this chapter, please review! Thanks for reading!


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